SPRINGFIELD, Mo -- A local brewery is hoping patrons will kick one back for a good cause. Mother's Brewery is taking part in Ales for ALS. It's an effort to raise money and awareness for Lou Gehrig's disease.

Lou Gehrig left behind a legacy baseball players strive for, but you also can't hear that name without thinking about the disease associated with it.

There is another baseball legend in the Ozarks that also lost a battle with that disease, and now Mother's Brewery is going to raise money to help find a cure.

"The number one thing about Howard is he was a loyal guy. You could not out work Howard," said Former Glendale and Drury Coach Mark Stratton. He recalls one of his earliest memories of Coach Howard Bell. "I see Howard out there in a body cast chasing a gal who ran into their car and tried to leave," Stratton laughed.

Stratton says he was a man that touched the lives of many. The former Glendale Baseball coach lost his battle with ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, in the spring of 2013.

"He was around from the time I was 13 until the time I got out of high school. So I knew him well," said Mother's Brewery Marketing Director Jeremy Wicks. He has fond memories of Bell.

"He was one of those guys too that had who knows how many students, and people he coached, who knows how many people," Wicks said, "but he remembered every single person. He always friendly to everybody."

When a national ALS research organization reached out to Wicks, he jumped on the opportunity. "They were wanting to put together a program called Ales for ALS."

Two Farmers in the Pacific Northwest are donating an experimental blend of hops for the project.
that's the stuff you need to make beer.

"There's 38 craft breweries total that did it. We are the only one in Missouri that did it," Wicks explained.

Each brewery will donate one dollar to the ALS Therapy Development Institute for every pint sold of the special brew.

"It's a pale ale," Wicks explained, "American Pale Ale."

Coach Stratton said it's the type of fundraising Coach Bell could have gotten behind.

"There was probably not an adult beverage Howard couldn't participate with," Stratton joked. "Howard would have appreciated the gesture for sure."

Stratton also admitted that Bell was the kind of guy that never wanted the attention.

"Howard would be embarrassed. Very humble. But he would appreciate it. I guarantee that."

"I think he would be grateful for it too," Wicks said, "I think he would be excited to know that there are programs going on in his own community that are trying to raise awareness for other people and other families."

Mother's will be selling the special Ales for ALS beer starting on June 14 only in their tasting room. The money raised will help come up with more effective treatments for ALS in the future.

There are 38 breweries making this special beer. If each one makes about 20 kegs worth at a rate of 120 to 140 pints a keg, they can raise more than $100,000 for ALS research.